The Apprenticeship Local Authority Toolkit
Working in partnership
Oxfordshire decided to develop a cross sector Apprenticeship model that provided placements in the council services, health sector; and the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors. The County Council recruited and employed the apprentices and worked in partnership with employers and the training provider to ensure the apprentices can access suitable placements, support and appropriate training. Apprentices have been employed on a year contract and during that time have two different placements.
Target audience:
The Council has used its own in house training provider to date, but this will change from 2015/16 as the training is being outsourced. Health placements have included; large teaching hospitals, smaller community hospitals and reablement services. Internal placements included; day services for older people and adults with a learning disability, domiciliary care for adults and disabled children, special needs schools and children’s centres.PVI sector placements have included; nursing homes, care homes, housing with care, supported living and respite centres for disabled children.
Challenges:
The council now provides fewer services and most are commissioned so the model moved to one where the majority of placements were external. Engaging health providers and the PVI was challenging in most cases. The scheme relied on individuals within the organisations being prepared to support a placement and continuing to provide placements following positive experiences with apprentices.
Few organisations made any long term commitment to Apprenticeships. Individuals who had supported the programme left an organisation, ‘selling’ Apprenticeships to new staff became a time consuming task year after year.Gaining long term commitment from organisations is vital to ensuring the long term provision and sustainability of social care Apprenticeships. Oxfordshire County Council is considering whether a requirement to provide Apprenticeship placements should be included in the procurement process when commissioning services in the PVI.
Benefits:
The model has had a number of benefits.
For young people:
- It enabled them to try out two different areas of social care with different employers before deciding where they want to work.
- They learned about other employers and services from the apprentices they trained with who were in different placements.
- They learned about career progression in the sector.
- It provided a supported transition between education and employment ensuring that apprentices received appropriate support and learned at their own pace.
- It provided high quality training.
- It developed health and social care workers who would be confident working in a variety of settings as they recognised they had transferable skills.
- It was an inclusive model recruiting young people from a wide range of backgrounds including care leavers, young carers, young parents and NEETS.
For employers:
- It brought young people into the social care workforce from a variety of backgrounds in an appropriately supported way.
- It provided an opportunity to ‘grow our own’ health and social care workforce for the future.
- Employers had the assurance of the quality of training and support within the Apprenticeship scheme.
- Providers worked together across the social care sector to improve the image of social care as a career.
- It brought young people with fresh viewpoints and valuable ideas into the sector.
- It helped to retain young people in the social care workforce as they understood how to move across service user groups and develop careers.
- It provided development opportunities for existing staff, some gained promotion after supervising an apprentice and some former apprentices supervised new apprentices in the workplace.
- Employers were able to try out apprentices for six months before deciding whether to employ them.
- There was a limited risk to PVI employers as the employment, support and management of the scheme was provided by the Council.